Isaac Wright
Isaac Wright was a Quaker investor who esblished the first scheduled trans-Atlantic shipping service between New York and England and was a president of City National Bank from 1827 to 1832.
Wright was born in East Norwich, L.I. on March 2nd, 1760 to John Wright, a blacksmith, and Phebe Seaman, the daughter of Thomas Seaman (The Wright Family of Oyster Bay, Howland Perrine, 1923). (An article in Harper's incorrectly identified him as English.) In 1817 Isaac and son William founded the Black Ball Line along with merchants Francis Thompson (who married Isaac's daughter Mary) and Benjamin Marshall. The line which had ships sailing once a month between New York City and Liverpool was the first regularly scheduled shipping route in the United States. At the time ships sailed when they . Its ships had a black ball on a red background. At the time he live at 38th Street and Third and walked back and forth between the South Street Seaport.[1]
The advent of the schedule contributed heavily to New York becoming the dominant port in the United States.[2]
Wright speculated on cotton and ended up losing the company to Jeremiah Thompson.
In 1825 he was among the new owners of City National Bank. Other Quaker merchants at the bank were William W. Fox who would later be president of New York Gas Light Company and Black Ball founder Benjamin Marshall [3][4]
References
- ↑ Important American periodical dating back to 1850 Harper's Magazine Published by Harper's Magazine Co., 1892
- ↑ 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York by Clifton Hood The Johns Hopkins University Press (July 13, 2004) ISBN 0-8018-8054-8
- ↑ http://www.tacomascene.com/kalakala/black_ball_line/black_ball_line.html
- ↑ http://www.danbyrnes.com.au/merchants/merchants10.htm
| Business positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas L. Smith |
President of City National Bank 1827–1832 |
Succeeded by Thomas Bloodgood |